Meyer Sound has provided the solution for an in-house audio installation at a Canadian theatre.

The Royal Theatre in British Columbia installed the Californian manufacturer’s Leopard compact line array systems, having "waited" for the solution that offered “just the right fit”.

Supplied by Pacific Audio Works and installed by the theatre’s own crew under the direction of assistant technical director and head of audio Warren Busby, the new system’s main left and right arrays each comprise 12 Leopard compact line array loudspeakers flown under two 900-LFC low frequency control elements.

Technical director Blair Morris said: “We’ve had three iterations of Meyer Sound systems in the theatre over the last 27 years, starting with MSL-3 loudspeakers in 1990,” he says. “Each was state of the art for its time, and each better than the one before. We had considered other line array solutions, but held off when we were given advance notice about LEOPARD. We expected it would be the perfect fit, and it was.”

Morris noted that the century-old architecture of the 1,416-seat auditorium left little room to the sides of the proscenium, dictating a line array with a slender profile.

“We’d had some of the Lyon systems come in with rock tours and the results were spectacular,” he explained, “but they were just a bit too wide and the number of boxes needed for uniform coverage would result in power overkill.

“Also, we had used the smaller Mina arrays with great success in the McPherson Theatre – a 750-seat venue we also manage. But Mina wouldn’t give us the power we need to host the rock shows. So Leopard hit the sweet spot for us on all counts – size, coverage, power and sound quality.”

Deep bass is bolstered by dual floor-standing 1100-LFC low frequency control elements, with four UPJ-1P and four UPM-1XP loudspeakers deployed as, respectively, front apron and under balcony fills. Six UPA-1P loudspeakers and two USW-1P subwoofers are available for on-stage effects or foldback, with system drive and optimization supplied by two Galileo Galaxy loudspeaker processors.

“For a house PA, we didn’t skimp at all,” Morris continued. “There’s nothing coming through the door that we can’t handle, from the most extreme rock show to a symphony pop concert.”

Shawn Hines of GerrAudio, Meyer Sound’s Canadian distributor, commented: “Meyer Sound has a long relationship with the Royal Theatre and at Gerr, we’re thrilled with this latest system upgrade.”

Designed and supplied by Warsaw-based distributor Polsound, the new Meyer Sound MINA system was installed in the auditorium just prior to the opening of the theatre's latest production, Singing in the Rain.